The passion and energy of wine
Aperture Cellars winemaker Jesse Katz is “changing the way the world drinks.” That’s what Wine Enthusiast editors gushed in a recent cover story praising Katz as one of the industry’s top under-40 innovators. Katz’s small-batch wines from California’s North Coast appellations represent a “textural” revolution, especially the whites, where fresh-pressed juice is initially barrel fermented […]
I’m fortunate to have a wine expert living in my neighborhood. For more than 20 years, Craig Gandolf was the wine director for Jorge Ordonez Selections, one of the largest U.S. importers of Spanish wines. In May 2018, he was named national sales manager for Cynthia Hurley French Wines based in Needham. While French wines […]
For years Tenuta San Guido estate’s “Guidalberto” has lived in the shadow as a second label to “Sassicaia”, the Marchesa Mario della Rochetta’s legendary Bordeaux-style wine that launched Italy’s Super Tuscan phenomenon in the 1970s. Now run by son Nicolo`, Tenuta San Guido enjoys the best of both worlds. Sassicaia, which retails at $250 a […]
“You want it darker,” sang the late-great poet-singer Leonard Cohen in one of his final albums before he died in 2016. Too bad he wasn’t singing about wine. Yes, Mr. Cohen, I want it darker too – in the glass. After drinking pale pink rose` wines for what seems like an eternity this summer, my […]
What do you serve to guests at a garden party during an oppressive heat wave? Cool, clean, crisp rose` – and plenty of it! Sixteen intrepid neighbors toured my wife Mary Lee’s daylily gardens over the weekend as temperatures sizzled. Buoyed by glasses of chilled rose`, no one wavered or wilted. The daylilies – all […]
I’ve added a new destination to my Bucket List: Leonardo da Vinci’s long lost and now revived vineyard in Milan. Yes, the 16th century genius in art and science was also a vintner. He loved wine and ever the visionary wrote about its health benefits as the “divine juice of the grape.” In 1495, the […]
Is your summer half empty or half full? Recently, I overheard several people lament that, following the Fourth of July, the summer season “is all but over.” Blasphemy! Don’t be a summer-doldrums type person. If things need perking up, do what I do: Turn to Trentino (generally called Trento), a high-altitude autonomous province in northeast […]
[URIS id=4969] Pizza is food, says Marco Caputo, and it should be cooked so that all the ingredients’ flavors emerge – some patiently, others powerfully – to be enjoyed as a meal. When Caputo talks pizza, your mouth starts watering for a taste. He’s the owner-chef of Boston’s Mast’ Restaurant & Drinkery on Province Street […]
Riesling is one of the world’s noble grapes and probably its most versatile white wines. It is made in all sweetness levels – dry, off-dry and sweet – and stands up well as a pairing partner to many cheeses and foods, especially spicy Asian, Thai, and Mexican dishes. As the summer rolls on and […]
When I hear “Bonanza”, I think instantly of the wildly popular 1960s action-packed western TV series starring actor Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright and his three disparate sons – “Hoss” (Dan Blocker), Adam (Pernell Roberts) and Little Joe (Michael Landon) – patrolling the Ponderosa ranch and defending it from unscrupulous bad guys. If only the […]
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